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Today's Opinions

When legislative budget staffers were looking into ways to balance the state’s budget during the 2009 session, they happened onto the fact that Pinnacol Assurance, the quasi-public agency that serves as the insurer of last resort for workers’ compensation, had reserves in excess of half a billion dollars more than appeared to be necessary. When legislative leaders suggested taking some of the money to address budget issues, the reaction from Pinnacol, business interests and Pinnacol customers was swift. They said the state should keep its hands off.

In early May, our office learned that four people in the metro area had jewelry and cash stolen from their homes after opening the door to people calling themselves “neighbors.” As the weather becomes nicer, watch for this and other door-to-door scams.

Be savvy if approached by traveling home improvement contractors, magazine salespersons, or any stranger who comes to the door. Of course, not everyone who comes to your door has bad intentions. We simply advise a healthy dose of caution and a firm “no” if necessary.

Our children can often bear the brunt during tough economic times. Moms or dads may be out of work. Money is tight. Stress due to financial pressures mounts. The chances of children in at-risk families being victimized tend to increase.

In Colorado each year, more than 50,000 reports of child abuse and neglect are filed and more than 11,000 children enter foster care. In 2009, Jefferson County ranked fifth in the state for the number of abuse and neglect filings. Although that ranking is down a notch from the previous year, the ranking is both alarming and unacceptable.

In 1983, the Baltimore Colts selected John Elway with the first pick in that year’s NFL draft. Elway had no interest in playing for the Colts, and said he would play professional baseball if they took him. So the Colts traded Elway to the Broncos for two players and a first-round pick in the 1984 draft. The rest is history.

Since then, Broncos drafts have been pretty ordinary. No big headlines, no huge stories.

Sometimes the story isn’t as big a deal as the story about the story. How much different would United States history look if, the day after the Watergate break-in, President Nixon had said, “Campaigns make people do crazy things,” instead of getting involved in the cover-up that led to his resignation?

While there is little doubt there is nothing in Scott McInnis’ tax returns or John Hickenlooper’s charitable contributions that rise to the level of Watergate, the principle is the same. The longer questions persist, the bigger the story gets.

Two weeks ago, my kids returned home from school with new backpacks. The green bags — which more resembled re-usable grocery totes — touted the U.S. census, proclaiming “Be counted” in several languages, with a backdrop of multi-colored hands.

Before Coloradans went to their precinct caucuses last month, it looked like U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and former lieutenant governor Jane Norton were on their way to meeting in a combative and expensive race for Colorado’s U.S. Senate seat. What a difference a month makes!